The Shining Review

Struggling writer Jack Torrance (Nicholson) takes a job as an off season caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. Torrance takes the position and moves in for the winter with his wife (Duvall) and son(Lloyd), in hopes that the solitude of the off season will clear up his writers block.

The Overlook, a building virtually cut off from everything by mountains, has a shady past however, and it is soon discovered that past caretakers have gone mad. This fate soon befalls Torrance, and it is up to his son and his special gift, which a chef calls “Shining” early in the movie, to summon help for he and his mother.

This is a bit of a long movie, nearly two and a half hours in fact, and at times, it seems like nothing as going on. I think this film could’ve easily been 15-30 minutes shorter. Other than that, this is a good film, though I believe some people make it out to be more than it really is. But hey, that happens.

Nicholson is a perfect fit for the lead role, and most of the other prominent characters are done well also. I just wish they had gotten someone else to play the wife, because frankly, Shelley Duvall does nothing for me.